Celebrating 50 Years of Improving Survivorship and Lessening the Burden of Cancer

By Todd Stevens, President and CEO, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has served the needs of patients throughout the Gulf South region for more than 50 years. Thanks to generous community support, we provide leading-edge treatment and innovative technology ensuring that patients receive expert cancer care.

Mary Bird Perkins’ legacy began with a commitment to investing in the future of cancer care by a few community leaders who were personally impacted by cancer. They had the vision to recognize that a diagnosis of cancer is a life-altering event and that effective treatment would require a singular focus.

In the 50 years since they made that promise, their vision for a dedicated center solely focused on advancing cancer care has become reality. Throughout southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi, you will find Mary Bird Perkins radiation facilities and comprehensive cancer centers made possible through valuable hospital partnerships providing leading-edge cancer care and support to thousands of patients and their families every year. You will also find transformative community and workplace education and prevention programs helping to create healthier communities and a robust academic partnership with LSU leading to innovative and world-renowned research into the treatment of cancer.

However, we always want to do more. Our mission continues, and advancements in cancer care happen at an incredibly rapid pace and we have the team and resources in place to maintain this progress. Our legacy propels us forward in helping patients and their families triumph over cancer.

A Singular Vision for Cancer Care

In 1971, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center opened on the Woman’s Hospital campus led by visionary community leaders who wanted to fulfill the need for a community-owned radiation treatment facility in the greater Baton Rouge area. They recognized the enormous impact that a cancer diagnosis has on patients and their families. And they saw the need for an organization that was solely focused on improving outcomes for patients and addressing the systemic impact cancer has on the community at large.

When our founders envisioned creating a modern center for cancer care, linear accelerators, a mainstay of cancer treatment still today, didn’t even exist. But despite this, these forward-thinking individuals recognized the need for expert cancer care right here in Baton Rouge. So, when Mary Bird Perkins opened, its leaders positioned it for future growth—one that would continue to amass the resources and capabilities to keep up with the rapid advances in cancer care and bring the newest interventions and innovative technologies to those we have the privilege of serving.

This dedication to cancer care also ensured that physicians, nurses, and other key healthcare providers, who trained at some of the finest cancer institutions in the country, could build a career right here in Louisiana by aligning with Mary Bird Perkins. As a result, Louisiana has benefited from decades of unparalleled cancer professionals specializing in cancer education, treatment and research who chose our organization in which to provide the very best in cancer care to patients every day.

Paving the Way Forward

Their vision relied on bringing leading-edge cancer treatment to our region. And that’s exactly what Mary Bird Perkins has done for 50 years.

Each stage of our history has advanced cancer care through new technology, new research and new programs, even in our earlier years. In 1985, we installed Louisiana’s first 20 million volt accelerator, the most advanced form of radiation therapy at the time. And this tradition continued into the turn of the century.

In 2004, we invested in training the next generation of scientists and conducting radiation therapy research to enhance cancer care at home and around the world. Through our joint Mary Bird Perkins/LSU Medical Physics Program, we have trained much sought after graduates and clinical developments that have been shared across the globe, impacting patient care locally and internationally.

Other recent initiatives, included expanding and enhancing our Baton Rouge location, Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center, providing a more clinically progressive and calming, patient-centered environment. Also in the Capital area, along with Our Lady of the Lake and Woman’s Hospital, we created a one-of-a-kind facility, the Breast & GYN Cancer Pavilion, specifically focused on meeting the specialized needs of women facing breast or gynecological cancer. Both projects further our dedication to meeting the evolving needs of the community.

And we continue to lead the way forward in treating cancer. Following are a few additional examples of how we have accomplished this through:

• Acquiring non-invasive treatments like the Gamma Knife Icon, which provides patients with an enhanced quality of life,
• Creating disease-site specific multidisciplinary teams equipped to take a team approach to fighting cancer,
• Launching the Prevention on the Go program, which has screened nearly 100,000 people for cancer, and
• Competing and being selected to participate in the NCI Community Oncology Research Program with LSU Health Sciences New Orleans and Shreveport and other partners to bring advanced clinical trials to more people.

Cumulatively, our programs and services have focused on expanding access to and investing in the best cancer care available, as well as eliminating barriers to care and reducing the impact of cancer throughout the communities we serve.

Leading the Way into the Future of Cancer Care

The critical work Mary Bird Perkins has done for the past 50 years has set the stage for the future of cancer care.

Our knowledge and understanding of the disease has accelerated every area in oncology exponentially in the past 20 years, as technological advances, therapeutics and other interventions have emerged.

But cancer is not one disease. It is comprised of hundreds of different types of disease processes, all of which take different pathways in the body and impact patients in a myriad of ways.

The more we peel the onion back, the more we discover.

Our legacy remains firmly rooted in our mission to improve survivorship and lessen the burden of cancer.

Mary Bird Perkins truly is unique. Many healthcare organizations offer cancer care as a part of their overall mission, whereas, treating cancer patients is our 100% focus. We remain completely committed to providing leading-edge care, advocating for our patients’ needs and focusing on prevention and education to help reduce the number of people impacted by a cancer diagnosis.

I thank our founders, physicians, team members, board members, supporters and so many others who have helped us expand our mission to nine locations today. I also want to recognize Our Lady of the Lake and Terrebonne General Medical Center, our longtime partners and collaborators.  

Through the continued support of our community and the strength of our team members, physicians and board leadership, together, we will triumph over cancer.